Oven appliances conventionally include one or more racks whereby multiple food items can be placed into the oven for cooking operations. In order to accommodate food items and cooking utensils of different sizes, a typical construction includes horizontal protrusions formed directly into the side walls of the oven cavity on which the racks can be slid in and out of the oven cavity. The racks and protrusions are designed so that the user can remove the rack from the protrusions at one vertical level and reinstall the rack at a different vertical level, which the user may select based on e.g., the height of the food items or utensils, the number of items being cooked, the type of food being cooked, and/or other factors.
Such conventional design may present challenges to some users of the appliance, however. For example, some users may find the removal and reinstallation of the rack so as to adjust the vertical height to be cumbersome or difficult. Additionally, the protrusions are commonly formed by stamping metal sheets to form the side walls of the oven cavity. The number of vertical levels may be limited to e.g., only four or five within the oven cavity. Thus, the amount of vertical adjustability can be quite limited and, therefore, unsatisfactory to some users.
Other systems have been proposed to provide vertical adjustability for the racks or shelves within an appliance. Typically, however, these constructions are also limited to fixed number of a relatively few locations at which the racks or shelves can be placed within the appliance. Some constructions may also have limitations on the amount of weight that can be supported.
Accordingly, an appliance having vertically adjustable racks or shelves would be useful. An appliance also having features that allow for an increased selection of vertical locations to which the racks of shelves can be adjusted would also be useful.